MEANING
To trouble, pressure, or attack someone persistently or from several directions.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- beset by doubts
- beset by enemies
On the page
Doubts beset her whenever the house fell silent.
Enemies beset the small band before they reached the gate.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- beset
- Past tense
- beset
- Past participle
- beset
- Present participle
- besetting
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- beset
- Present continuous
- am/is/are besetting
- Present perfect
- have/has beset
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been besetting
- Past
- beset
- Past continuous
- was/were besetting
- Past perfect
- had beset
- Past perfect continuous
- had been besetting
- Future
- will beset
- Future continuous
- will be besetting
- Future perfect
- will have beset
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been besetting
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Forms: beset; besets; beset; beset; besetting Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: besets.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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